Jennifer Kirby is top Canadian through first round at CP Women’s Open

Jennifer Kirby, of Paris, Ont. Canada watches her tee shot on the 12th hole, at the Canadian Pacific Women's Open golf tournament in London, Ont., on Thursday. Kirby finished at 5 under par. (Dave Chidley/The Canadian Press)

LONDON, Ont. — The only all-Canadian group at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open got more than polite golf claps from the many fans who followed them throughout the first round.“They clapped for everything,” Brooke Henderson said. “It was awesome. The support out there was amazing.”Buoyed by that support, Jennifer Kirby had the best day of any Canadian with a 5-under 67, while Henderson and Rebecca Lee-Bentham each shot 2 under.Inside the ropes, Kirby said playing with two friends made her feel “comfortable.” The Paris, Ont., native was able to play it safe and still hole five birdies.“Bogey-free round, took advantage of the par 5s for the most part and hit it close on a few and didn’t really make any big mistakes,” Kirby said.

Kirby goes into Friday’s morning tee time four strokes behind leader So Yeon Ryu, who set a new course record at the London Hunt and Country Club with her 9-under 63.Na Yeon Choi was one shot behind her, while Inbee Park sat three off the lead.On the eve of the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, Ryu, Choic and Park got together for dinner.Traditional Korean food was on the menu, but Ryu credited the company, rather than the cuisine, for her strong start.“We had a talk together to help us relax,” Ryu said. “Sometimes when you’re hanging out with really good friends, it can make you more relaxed and enjoy the golf. Today, I really enjoyed my golf. That comes from great friendship.”Ryu’s 63 was one shy of the tournament record and her 9-under-par tied the best mark, set in 2009 by Song-Hee Kim. The 24-year-old hit nine birdies and played a bogey-free round.Choi chipped in three times during her morning round, and her 8 under looked like it would stand up until Ryu got hot on the back nine. Choi knew she chipped in twice from inside of 10 yards and once from a bunker 25 yards away but had to check her scorecard to figure out how many birdies she hit.“I felt good about my game, but I didn’t really realize I had five birdies in a row,” Choi said. “I didn’t really think about I want to birdie every hole.”Choi credits Canadian manager Greg Morrison for her love of and strong play in Canada. Her career-best round of 62 came in last year’s Manulife Financial LPGA at the Grey Silo Golf Course in Waterloo, Ont.Swede Anna Nordqvist, who was playing with and pushed along by Ryu, was alone in third at 7 under.“She made nine birdies today and I made seven,” Nordqvist said. “It gives you a lot of momentum or a lot of positive energy just seeing a lot of birdies.”Choi left at least one shot on the course, as her birdie putt on No. 9 — her final hole of the day — lipped out. A tie for the lead might’ve done wonders for a player who hasn’t won a tournament since the 2012 U.S. Open.Similarly, Ryu hasn’t won in two years, so the two friends can try to help each other through.

“We kind of talk about how can we get through this one, how do we think about this situation,” Ryu said. “I realize I’m not the only (one going) through the hard time. That kind of conversation makes me more relieved.”Henderson, the 16-year-old amateur phenom, and Lee-Bentham aren’t far off the pace. There was plenty of pressure on Henderson going into the tournament, but she showed no signs of cracking Thursday.“I hit the ball great all day,” the Smiths Falls, Ont., native said. “I hit a lot of greens and had a lot of opportunities for birdie. They didn’t fall today but hopefully over the next couple of days they’ll make up for it.”Lee-Bentham, who’s from Toronto, said she “felt a lot of love” from the crowd all day.“It’s more than usual, so it was more fun out there,” she said.A few other Canadians were able to have fun without stressing about playing in front of home-country fans. Amateur Elizabeth Tong of Thornhill, Ont., and Sara-Maude Juneau of Fossambault, Que., joined Henderson and Lee-Bentham at 2 under.Tong, who’s going back to school at the University of Indiana next week, just qualified Monday and called being in the tournament a bonus.“That beat my expectations,” Tong said of her first round. “I was just looking to shoot like around par, keep it together, because I definitely knew people were going to shoot like 64, 65 the whole day. Just keep myself in there because the main goal is to make the cut, if anything. I think I put myself in a good position there.”Sue Kim from Langley, B.C., was the only other Canadian of the 15 in the tournament to be under par at 1 under.Alena Sharp (Hamilton) and amateur Jennifer Ha (Calgary) shot an even-par 72; Lorie Kane (Charlottetown), Maude-Aimee LeBlanc (Sherbrooke, Que.) and Erica Rivard (Tecumseh, Ont.) shot 73; Samantha Richdale (Kelowna, B.C.) and Nicole Vandermade (Brantford, Ont.) shot 74 and Jessica Wallace (Langley) and Natalie Gleadall (Stratford, Ont.) shot 75.

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Jennifer Kirby, of Paris, Ont. Canada watches her tee shot on the 12th hole, at the Canadian Pacific Women's Open golf tournament in London, Ont., on Thursday. Kirby finished at 5 under par. (Dave Chidley/The Canadian Press)

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